48—Lincolns Inn | Fields. W.C.
Advent Sun⟨day⟩ | No⟨v⟩r—28 ⟨1880⟩
My dear Sir—
As I shall proba⟨bl⟩y be very busy tomorrow, & Tuesday, & was very busy yesterday, I infringe on my general rule, in replying to your note on this day— I beg to thank you & your Father for it—2 The price of ⟨the⟩ property in question was, what I underst⟨ ⟩ was given for it, so I am much obliged for a confirmation of ⟨ ⟩e report—my Father & I— received— I am not sure, w⟨ ⟩ the “owner”, you re⟨ ⟩ is still ali⟨ ⟩— w⟨ ⟩ & have an i⟨mp⟩ression, ⟨that⟩ he is not—without referring to some paper⟨s I⟩ have, I think, if I remem⟨ber⟩ rightly, the name was —Haswell3 & not Haslam—but as one cannot be too particular, of ⟨wha⟩t one writes or says ⟨ ⟩ anyone—especially in ⟨the⟩ event of future litiga⟨tio⟩n—which as I have ⟨ line⟩ expressed, I have ⟨ line⟩ ⟨ ⟩t or possible ⟨ ⟩ll ⟨ ⟩ of— I did not trouble your honoured Father with this correction— For ⟨the⟩ same reason I called Mr H—the first ⟨ ⟩ee—and you—rightly cal⟨ ⟩ ⟨ ⟩ owner—if he w⟨as un⟩der all the circumstan⟨ce⟩s of the case real (or rightful) owner— You imply very properly he had a legal ti⟨t⟩le to convey, & that possession, which is said to be nine tenths, parts or points of the Law— But I have wished to avoid, as far as I can, any reference to disputed title— Miss W⟨edgwo⟩od’s title was no dou⟨bt⟩ ⟨abso⟩lutely bonâ f⟨ide as far⟩ as she was concerned—4 it is merely a very complicate⟨d⟩ question of prescription, w⟨he⟩ther I, as Heir at L⟨a⟩w of ⟨my F⟩ather, could do any th⟨ing to⟩ obtain a D⟨ecr⟩ee— ⟨ ⟩ the Conveyance to H as wel⟨l⟩ perhaps without any fault on his part,) was invalid. My Father always considered his estate suffered £500—by the sale besides, or including, the ⟨ ⟩s of the property itself—& supposing Mr H—spent £1500 on the property, which I think far above the real estimate & gave £1500 for it, which ⟨I⟩ think, is also above the mark. ⟨ ⟩ [earned] £1500 by the ⟨transact⟩ion— If these figure⟨s⟩ ⟨1 or 2 words⟩ ⟨ ⟩t, to my mind, i⟨s⟩ ⟨2 or 3 words⟩ ⟨ ⟩nes—
With many | ⟨ki⟩nd regards— ⟨ ⟩ ⟨ ⟩in Dear Sir ⟨ ⟩ ⟨ ⟩ly Oliver A. Ainslie
Francis D⟨arwin⟩
⟨PS⟩— I omitted to tell Dr Darwin th⟨a⟩t my Father, when he settled with those responsible for the sale, protested ag⟨ains⟩t it—
Please cite as “DCP-LETT-12872A,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on